Three generations of Tabler!

Andrew joined Table at the age of 22 and 13 years later finds himself now on the national board as Community Development Officer and is proud to be continuing the family tradition of being in Round Table.

Grandfather Eric was among one of the early members of Bristol No 09 Round Table with father Bruce following in his footsteps in the late 1960s. Afternoons spent as part of the Round Table family in Bristol with his father left him curious to discover what the attraction was.

“I was never pushed into Round Table as my dad never suggested I joined,” he said. “Table was very family orientated and I remember seeing my parents having a great time and that people were always around the house.

“It wasn’t something we really talked about much as I grew up as he’d left Table by then. When I was 22 I decided to join Table, I wasn’t one of those who went to university so this was my social network.

“I didn’t join Bristol but Downend. They merged with Keynesham and eventually we changed our name to Great Western Round Table. I became chairman, when it was still Downend, at 26 and I invited my dad to be president which was a proud moment. He had never been chairman of Bristol. He stood twice and lost twice. When he came back as president Table had evolved, one of the differences being that Tables were much smaller in terms of numbers. I then joined Bristol in Round Table in 2014 and I'm currently vice chairman.

“But following my dad and granddad, and then having my dad as president has made me look at it differently